William B. Rosson, a retired four-star Army
general and a former board member of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation,
died of a heart attack December 12, 2004. He was 86.

General Rosson, whose military honors spanned
World War II to the Vietnam War, suffered a heart attack at his home in
Salem, Virginia, said his widow, Bertha Mitchell Rosson.

An Iowa native, General Rosson grew up in Oregon.
He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1940 and later received a
master's degree in international relations from Oxford University.

He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in
the Army and fought in 10 campaigns in North Africa and Europe in World
War II. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest
decoration for valor, and rose to Lieutenant Colonel by the war's end.

He later served on the Army General Staff at
the Pentagon, in Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's NATO headquarters in Paris
and on the staff of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

In the Vietnam War, General Rosson served a
tour as General William Westmoreland's chief of staff.

He retired in 1975 as commander in chief of
the U.S. Southern Command in the Panama Canal Zone.

General Rosson's many awards included the Bronze
Star, the Legion of Merit, a Purple Heart and the Doughboy Award, the infantry's
highest award.

He retired to Florida, but later moved to Salem
when he married Bertha Mitchell.

Mike Shelton, former mayor of Bedford, where
the D-Day Memorial is located, credited General Rosson's vision in helping
to create the memorial.

"I think a lot of what you see in the memorial
is a direct reflection of General Rosson," he said. "He's got a deep, deep
imprint in that memorial."
4-Star Army Gen. William Rosson, 86By Patricia SullivanCourtesy of the Washington PostFriday, December 17, 2004

William B. Rosson, 86, a retired four-star
Army General who was a Battalion Commander at Anzio, Italy, in World War
II and a senior commander in Vietnam and served on the board of the National
D-Day Memorial Foundation, died Dec. 12 after a heart attack at his home
in Salem, Virginia.

General Rosson, who entered the Army in 1940,
immediately after graduating from the University of Oregon, served four
tours of duty in Vietnam, longer than any other senior commander in that
war. He retired in 1975 after two years as commander in chief of the Southern
Command in the Panama Canal Zone.

At 25, he received the Distinguished Service
Cross, the nation's second-highest military honor, for his actions in the
brutal campaign at Anzio. He participated in four amphibious assaults during
World War II, helping plan the invasion of southern France and fighting
with VI Corps all the way to Germany. He was a regimental commander early
during the occupation of Germany.

Rosson, a great soldier at 25, also was an
impressive staff officer at that age, said Gordon Rudd, a military historian
who teaches at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. "He was not
a Westmoreland, he was not a MacArthur, he was not a high-profile guy.
. . . He was more like Omar Bradley, who was
a soldier's soldier."

In World War II, he fought in 10 campaigns
with the 3rd Infantry, in such locales as North Africa and Germany.

He received many military awards and decorations,
including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the
Doughboy Award, the infantry's highest award. Apparently, he did not take
the awards too seriously.

After the war, while working in Europe under
Bernard Montgomery, the British field marshal, Rosson noted that Montgomery
was wearing all of his 38 ribbons. According to a story that made the rounds
of NATO headquarters, Montgomery then asked each officer in the room, in
turn, how many ribbons he had earned. Rosson, who had no idea how many
awards he had, answered, "Thirty-nine." Montgomery left the room in a huff,
and the American's popularity with British staff officers soared.

General Rosson also displayed physical courage
in his career. In 1954, while assigned to a military advisory group in
Indochina, he flew over the battle of Dien Bien Phu, the bloody altercation
that ended French involvement in Vietnam. The first two Americans killed
in Vietnam combat, both civilians, died in similar flyovers, downed by
withering antiaircraft fire from Vietminh.

Gen. Rosson, who subsequently served in Germany
and at the Pentagon, returned in 1965 to Vietnam, where he was chief of
staff for Westmoreland. He took over I Corps for a Marine commander on
leave, a rare case in which an Army officer was in command of a predominantly
Marine formation. Gen. Rosson subsequently formed a division of separate
units that became the Americal Division and later became deputy commander
in Vietnam under Gen. William Abrams. From 1970 to the end of 1972, he
was commander in chief of the Army in the Pacific before ending his military
career in Panama.

After his retirement, Gen. Rosson received
a master of letters degree in international relations from Oxford University.

He moved to Salem, near Roanoke, in 1984, after
he married Bertha Mitchell Rosson, and became involved with the National
D-Day Memorial efforts. His wife survives him.

"He was a great, strong supporter. He was a
great man for detail," said William Bagbey, the founding chairman of the
foundation that built the memorial. "Of course, he was not one who pushed
himself to the front, but he did, by his actions, get very much to the
front."

United States Army Biography:

General Rosson fought in ten campaigns with
the 3rd Infantry Division in World War II in North Africa, Sicily, Italy,
France, and Germany. Wounded in Sicily, he went on to win the nation's
second highest decoration for valor, The Distinguished Service Cross, on
the "Anzio Beachhead in Italy."

He later served on the Army General Staff in
the Pentagon, in General Eisenhower's NATO headquarters in Paris, France,
and on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, again in
the Pentagon. Troop duty Included command of two Infantry regiments in
Germany, and command of the European Airborne Brigade, also in Germany.

General Rosson served four tours in Vietnam
covering six years. His assignments included:

After serving as Commander in Chief of United
States Army Forces in the Pacific from 1970 to 1973, General Rosson completed
his career in Latin America by serving as Commander in Chief, United States
Southern Command from January 1973 to July 1975, with headquarters in the
Canal Zone.

General Rosson is a graduate of the Army Command
and General Staff College, The Army War College, and the National War College.

Following retirement in 1975, General Rosson
obtained a Master of Letters degree in international relations from Oxford
University in England. In 1984, the General moved from Florida to Roanoke,
Virginia. Among his present pursuits are lecturing on national security
and international relations, serving as a panelist, conducting professional
research and writing for military agencies and journals.
ROSSON, WILLIAM BRADFORDGeneral, US Army (Ret.), 86

On December 12, 2004. Beloved husband of Bertha
R. Rosson; step father of two, grandfather of seven. Services 10 a.m.,
Monday, December 20 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Salem, Virginia. Interment
Arlington National Cemetery, 11 a.m., Tuesday, January 11, 2005 with Full
Military Honors.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Rosson buried at Arlington National Cemetery

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA -- The black horse came
last -- tall and graceful, four stars shining on its empty saddle, a pair
of empty boots turned backward in the stirrups -- heralding the death of
another old soldier.

William B. Rosson, a retired four-star Army
General and a former board member of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation,
was buried today in an emotional ceremony attended by about 150 family,
friends and military officials. Many took a 5 a.m. bus ride from the Roanoke
Valley to attend the burial.

Rosson, a Salem resident, was eulogized as
an American hero, a gentleman and a man of courage.

"He was gracious until the day he died," said
Lorraine Simms, a Salem neighbor.

Rosson, 86, died December 12, 2004, of a heart
attack at home.

On a mild winter day under leaden skies, he
was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, including
a 17-cannon shot salute, a caisson pulled by six horses, an honor guard,
a 45-piece band and a full infantry platoon.